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Constantine I, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Constantine I or Constantine the Great kŏnˈstəntēn, –tīn [key], 288?–337, Roman emperor, b. Naissus (present-day Niš, Serbia). He was the son of Constantius I and Helena and was named in ful...

Constantine II, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Constantine II, 316–40, Roman emperor, son of Constantine I. When the empire was divided at the death (337) of Constantine I, among the brothers Constantius II, Constans I, and Constantine II, Const...

Ferdinand, emperor of Austria

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand, 1793–1875, emperor of Austria (1835–48), son and successor of Emperor Francis I (who also, as Francis II, had been the last Holy Roman emperor). A well-meaning monarch in his lucid mome...

Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of, 1389–1435, English nobleman; third son of Henry IV of England and brother of Henry V. At the death (1422) of his brother and succession of his 9-month-old nephew...

Tavener, Sir John Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Tavener, Sir John Kenneth tăvˈənər, –nə [key], 1944–2013, English composer, b. London; studied Royal Academy of Music. Tavener, whose work shows a consistent but evolving tonal or modal style...

Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of

(Encyclopedia)Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of, New York City, the world's largest Gothic cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral was begun in 1892 in the Byzantine-Romanesque style after designs by G. L. Heins and C...

Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 2d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 2d duke of, 1443–1524, English nobleman, son of John Howard, 1st duke of Norfolk. He fought at the battle of Bosworth (1485) in which his father was killed. He himself was ca...

Simnel, Lambert

(Encyclopedia)Simnel, Lambert sĭmˈnəl [key], c.1475–1525, imposter and pretender to the English throne. Little is known of his early life, but before 1486 he caught the attention of an Oxford priest, Richard S...

Edirne

(Encyclopedia)Edirne āˌdrēənōˈ pəl [key], city, capital of Edirne prov., NW Turkey, in Thrace. It is the ...

William II, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)William II (William the Good), c.1153–1189, king of Sicily (1166–89), son and successor of William I. He married (1177) Joan, daughter of Henry II of England. As an ally of Pope Alexander III and ...